Massachusetts Electrical Code

Thanks everyone for their help/tips.
I called my town's building inspector and they said only licensed
electrcians are allowed to do the work. They also told me that it is at the
town/city discretion as whether to require that or not.
Scott

Whether or not your town or the state allows owner-installed electrical
work, your *insurance company* is who you need to worry about. They will
be very uncooperative after your house burns down and will be looking for
any excuse to deny coverage.

I lived in Massachusetts for years and they didn't allow a homeowner to do
any plumbing or electrical. Of course, every Saturday you'd see lines of
homeowners at Home Depot and the local hardware stores buying plumbing and
electrical. I've heard of electricians that look at the date codes on Romex
and for HD stickers on outlets and then report the homeowner. Rural
Tennessee is a homeowners dream. No permits, no inspections unless you
request one and if you do want an inspection, there is no ball busting. I've
met with the building inspector and gotten lots of tips on how to do the job
right without fear of having something rejected over nonsense crap that
wouldn't be required of a licensed pro. It's not about the money thing here
like it is in the Northeast. My town is here to help me. Taxachusetts isn't
like that. Worse yet, if the licensed guy you hire is a screw-up you can't
even legally straighten out his bad work yourself. His bad work is protected
by the Board of Registration in Boston.
Bob

You are correct, I should have clarified that by saying "The town in which I
lived in Massachusetts". Getting a permit and inspection in Massachusetts
will be much more of a hassle for an individual than for a licensed person
regardless of the quality of the work done. It helps to have a friend who is
licensed to sign off the job before the inspection. The inspector will
barely look at the job if a licensed person signs it, but if the homeowner
gets the inspection, they'll bust his balls over every nit-picking thing.
One time the Roto-Rooter man I hired to clean a sewer drain reported me for
having installed a sink in my darkroom. I knew what he was up to and
completely disassembled the darkroom and removed the sink. When the
inspector arrived, I had no idea what this Roto-Rooter man was talking
about. I didn't even have a darkroom. The inspector left thinking the
Roto-Rooter man was nuts. Next day the sink was back in and that's the last
time Roto-Rooter ever cleaned the sewer pipe. I bought a snake and did it
myself from then on. When I sold the house, I again removed the darkroom and
sink. Games, games.
Bob
wrote:

When the Roto-Rooter guy came in he began a conversation about the darkroom
and said he was interested in photography. In the course of the conversation
I mentioned I had built it myself. Right then and there his attitude changed
and he said it was an illegal installation and probably not done right. What
he meant by "not done right" was that I hadn't hired his plumber friends to
do it. There are no Massachusetts permits for a homeowner to do his own
plumbing so he knew I couldn't have had a permit. As he left he said, "we'll
have to see about this....." I understood what that meant.
Bob

Of course, that's why I ended up getting selectmen involved! My permit
request was declined, I called a selectman, (selectperson?) who called the
town attorney. The town attorney called the inspector and said to stop the
BS.
The inspector gave me no grief after that!
gerry

Been there explicitly. Even involved my town attorney and Selectmen.
MA permits a home owner to do ANY wiring, including service entrances in a
single family dwelling unless the locality has a specific, stricter
by-law. Some towns and cities do have such by-laws.
All plumbing, including fixing a leaky faucet washer, must be performed by
licensed plumbers. So Wallmart and Home Depot only sell to licensed
plumbers ;-)
gerry

"So Wallmart and Home Depot only sell to licensed plumbers ;-)"
They do have home depot contractor outlets where they actually do check your
licence to buy anything (it's a discount thing not a legal issue here)
Just like cell phone jammers and radar detectors (in some states). You can
buy one or sell one but you can't legally use one.
I would expect that there is a distinction between repair of existing
equipment and installation of new fixtures. You should be able to rip out
your bathroom sink and put in a replacement but apparently you cannot
install your own darkroom sink. HD cannot know if the pipe you bought is to
repair your sprinkler system or install a bathroom in your garage
conversion.
Now we know to treat contractors like cops. Don't let them in your home
without probable cause and don't show them anything they don't need to see.

In accordance with Massachusetts General law 141, Any person who installs wires,
devices, etc FOR HIRE must be licensed, insured, and obtain a permit.
MA does not have a Homeowners Permit law, nor is there a Homeowners Permit form
As an Inspector, here in Massachusetts, I will NOT issue a Permit to a
Homeowner, however, any wiring performed by a homeowner has to be in compliance
with current Electrical Codes. According to the insurance companies. And the
Fire Department.
If the wiring does NOT comply, insurance companies are able to show cause to NOT
cover any incidence that may happen
Tom Sullivan
Inspector of Wires

Short answer is that the only thing a homeowner
can't do legally in MA is plumbing.
The earlier answer is deceptive. There is, of course,
no such thing as a "homeowners permit". But a
homeowner can certainly get a permit themselves.
I've had customers do it many times, as I don't
work as a general contractor. (I've also had
customers, such as architects and designers working
on their own home, who want to be their own GC.)
But the procedure can vary
from one town to another. In some towns the
inspectors are happy to work with homeowners.
In other towns they're more likely to go by the
book. They don't want to make their own job
any harder and don't want to risk liability, so
they prefer to deal with contractors they know.
It saves them time and work if they know the
contractor's work and have a relationship with
him/her.
I had a job last year for someone who was
*strongly* urged by the inspectors that he
shouldn't pull his own permit and that he should
hire a known, local contractor. He was told that
if he got his own permit he would be unable to
sue under the home improvement contractors
law. That is true. The law is designed to provide
a way for people to recoup their losses when
a bad contractor skips out. The state pays the
homeowner and then goes after the contractor
itself. All contractors have to pay fees to fund
that law in MA.
So there are risks in being one's own GC and in
getting a permit oneself. But if you understand those
risks and want to get your own permit there should
be no obstacle in doing so. If it were otherwise
then it would be illegal for a citizen to work on
their own house.

Sounds like there is an obstacle. Sully says he's the
inspector and he ain't giving out permits to homeowners.
It's an interesting position. Seems he wants to force
homeowners into doing the work themselves without a permit
and without an inspection. Sounds like very bad public
policy to me. Glad it doesn't work that way here in NJ
or most places.

Interesting. Contrast that with car insurance, where one is insured
even for negligence (in fact most injury and damage is caused by
negligence).
But wrt electrical work, if a homeowner is negligent to the point of
violating code, he loses his insurance? What if the evidence shows
he was negligent but was clearly trying to follow code. For example he
put in ten outlets, 9 are perfect and one has a wire that is stripped
too much and touches something (Ignore that if the rest of the house is
properly wired, that won't cause harm.) Find some example where one
could know the code and be planning to follow code, and be technically
able to follow the code (as evidenced by other work done at the same
time in the same house) but was still negligent,. Would insurance be
required to pay?
Or what about if a licensed electrician is negligent? What if he wasn't
even trying to follow code. (Maybe he was drunk that day) Is the
homeowner still insured?

I asked the same question of my insurance agent. Her reply was as follows:
The insurance company will generally pay the first claim but...
Insurance companies have comprehensive computer databases containing
social security numbers, addresses and claim history.
Reckless folks will find themselves and/or their properties uninsurable.
Certainly not where I'd want to be.

They will "generally" pay a claim where the licensed electrician was
negligent? I'd immediately get a new agent and a new insurance
company. That's BS and it would leave homeowners, lenders, open
to huge exposure.

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